The breast area has a mobile center of gravity that is offset relative to the upper torso as a whole. The breast may be regarded as a weighted appendage that the body compensates for by adjusting posture and movement to prevent injury. During physical activity, trauma (“injury”) to the breast, such as strained tissue or muscle, may occur during abrupt vertical and horizontal motion, such as during jumping or running. The trauma may be temporary (e.g., soreness), or chronic (e.g., permanent damage to breast tissue). Even when a user is not engaged in activity, gravity is capable of causing strain damage, especially if the breasts are large.
Therefore, a bra adapted to provide breast stabilization support, whether during physical activity, or due solely to the effects of gravity, is beneficial.
Implants may lead to greater risk of trauma during physical activity. Implants (in particular silicone implants) may be denser than natural breast tissue and therefore heavier, which can place strain on the skin and breast matter surrounding the implant. Implants are also foreign objects having some mobility, placed either above or underneath the pectoral muscle. Because implants commonly have a structural resiliency greater than human breast tissue, implants can cause a faster breakdown in surrounding breast tissue (e.g., muscles, skin, fat, ligaments, tendons). Therefore, supporting and stabilizing the implants and surrounding tissue against the strain of motion relative to the torso is beneficial.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,465,341 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/089,691 illustrate bras that address this problem of stabilizing breast mass from the point of view of weight management in relation to the torso. The bras effective support the breast area by compression with the torso to make them effectively a single structural entity, thereby eliminating or reducing breast mobility relative to the torso that can result in discomfort and/or trauma. However, the compression force in these bras cannot be reduced or increased without changing to a bra of a different size or design or by the use of an adjustable feature such as hook and eye or hook and loop fasteners. However such fasteners can be cumbersome, can misalign other parts of the bra or cause undesirable tension on other areas of the torso. Therefore there is an additional need to provide a single bra that can apply one compression force when the bra is worn with the closure zipper in front and a second different compression force when the bra is reversed and worn with the closure zipper in back.